Nigel Roddy

PROJECT

Arion Automated Ironing System

CLIENT

self motivated

Arion Automated Ironing System

The Arion is essentially a blower unit/heating element with an airbag attachment on top. Simply place the garment over the airbag switch on the fan, set the timer, spray with little water and walk away. It only takes 3-5 mins max to iron the clothing. The heat, pressure and moisture combine to create a very effective means of removing creases from clothing.

JURY COMMENTS

I own at least two or three irons. They are super-useful for sealing plastic, heat-setting resist for etching, pretty much any purpose where one needs to apply focused heat without burning. Apparently, they also have some sort of clothing application. Honestly, if I was to try and iron a piece of clothing I am pretty sure I would do it badly or totally wrong, probably in a way that ruined whatever I was trying to make look sharp. However, occasionally society demands that pants have a crease, that shirts not be wrinkled. This project is appealing in that it takes dead-butch junkyard debris and twists them towards the end of foppish fashion. It appeals to makers like me, people who are totally comfortable stripping out car components and using them in DIY projects, but honestly do not know how to use an iron. The project looks totally pro as well, which might have counted against it in our judging round as one cannot see the obtainium behind the shiny exterior. – Hackett

Arion Automated Ironing System

1. The Nutshell: In plain language, tell us what your project is, what it does, and what it’s comprised of.

The Arion is an invention I designed to iron clothing using hot air. I built a fully functioning prototype in my garage.

It is essentially a blower unit/heating element with an airbag attachment on top You simple place the garment over the airbag switch on the fan, set the timer, spray with little water and walk away. It only takes 3-5 mins max to iron the clothing. The heat, pressure and moisture combine to create a very effective means of removing creases from clothing.

2. The Brief: Summarize the problem you set out to solve. What was the context for the project, and what was the challenge posed to you?

I wanted to take the tedious system of ironing that has not changed in the last hundred years and transform it into a fun yet functional process. I wanted to rethink the process completely not just evolve the existing way of thinking. I wanted to design something that made people stop and look and hopefully smile.

3. The Intent: What is the personal backstory; why did you create your DIY project? What point of view did you bring to the project?

Growing up i remember my mother ironing all the family’s clothing in one big marathon session. When i moved away from home I did not continue this process in my Apartment. We had no room for an ironing board and i simply could not bring myself to iron 20 items in one go. So I basically ironed as I needed one item at a time. I soon realised the inefficiency of this process and set to thinking about the process. I had realised as I’m sure have many students, the benefits of a hair dryer when trying to dry or iron clothing in hurry. So I thought why not a bigger fan and drew up some quick sketch years later I final got the time to realise my idea.

I wanted to design a unit that would not need to needs of a young professional with limited time and space who ironed one or two garments at a time.

To create the design I firstly broke the ironing process down to its basics and when i did this i was left with three factors; Heat, pressure and moister. The fan blowing into the airbag would provide the pressure, a heating element would provide the heat and a simple water spray bottle the moisture

How I made the prototype. I sourced a fan from a Renault 5 car cooling system because it was quite yet produced a large volume of air. I used the heating element from an existing fan heater. I carved the housing shape from wood then used this to make a mould I then made a very basic vac form machine and vac formed a hollow housing to hold all the internals. I made airbags from spandex.

5. The Value: How does your project earn its keep in the world? What is its value? What is its impact? (Social, educational, economic, paradigm-shifting, sustainable, environmental, cultural, gladdening, etc.)

I think the arion earns its keep in the world by changing a tedious task into a fun task and it makes people smile.

It has numerous advantages over the existing iron and ironing board system.

1 it is designed to be stored in full view so no need to be put away when not in use.

2 it is fast and fun to use, taking only 3-5 (in testing) minutes to iron a t shirt

3 it is safe and easy to use and cannot damage or burn clothing.

4it is fully automated so you can go have a shower and when you return the freshly ironed garment will be waiting for you.

5 one size fits all. And if you want to do pants simply swap the interchangeable airbags

6 it is multi-purpose it can even be used to dry or air clothing. It can also be used as a cooling fan or space heater.

I think it suites the DIY section because it shows how a scrap part in one application can be utilised to great effect in completely different application . It also shows that even using basic tools with a little effort a DIY project can be made to look a lot less DIY